- Darr Family Blog - https://darr.org -

Summer Fun

Weekly Happenings: Most of this week, we pretty much just stayed home. It was rather hot (100+ degrees), so I didn’t really feel like doing anything outside. I joke that Texans are opposite of bears: we party during the winter and hibernate during the summer. 😉 Towards the end of the week, though, we did get to meet up with a small group of friends and go swimming at their pool. I also took the kids to the zoo yesterday morning before it got too hot.

The Weekly Weather: As I already mentioned, it’s been rather hot and humid. Luckily we should be dipping back down into the 90s, which is more normal for us.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He worked from home this past week. He also managed to squeeze in mowing both of the yards (he’s understandably not a fan of doing this task in the extreme heat and humidity).

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I got a fun delivery this week. I’ve “attended” a few Pampered Chef parties over the last little bit (they’ve been online) and I got some of my items in the mail! Most of the items I’ve ordered are to replace other kitchen items that have worn out over the years or are better quality than the things I already had (mixing bowls, storage bowls, a few utensils, etc.), but I did order a couple fun things: a breakfast sandwich maker (you can put all the components of a breakfast sandwich into separate compartments, heat them up in the microwave, and then assemble the sandwiches when it’s all heated up…you can even cook the eggs in the microwave) and a new cooking blender (since I “hosted” one of the parties, I was able to get a substantial discount on it). I’m excited to try it out! Oh, and I got a special bowl that can take regular popcorn kernels and pop them in the microwave. It even has a little spot in the lid where you can put butter so that it will drizzle over the kernels as they’re popping. I’m still expecting one more delivery (biscuit cutters, a pastry mat, and some new cooling racks), but those aren’t due to come until next month some time.

This Week in Pictures:

Pile on Mom!
Some days she’s feeling extra fancy and wants to wear a dress and a bow in her hair.
She loves to push the camera button.
Scrunchy-nose!
I love this silly girl!
Homemade pizza was on the menu, but I felt like mixing it up a bit with the toppings. I knew the boys would want the regular toppings, but I really wanted Canadian bacon and pineapple (and I thought Abigail would want to try it, too…she liked the Canadian bacon, but wasn’t a huge fan of the pineapple).
Spot the toad!
My friend got this shot of Abigail (and Joseph in the background) while we were swimming.
A friend of mine was looking to rehome some stuffies that her girls no longer play with. Abigail loves Moana, so when my friend brought out Pua (the pig) and Hei Hei (the rooster), Abigail was pretty excited.
I mean, that smile says it all.
Joseph was excited that there were some Pokemon stuffies for him.
Here’s my cooking blender. I’m ridiculously excited about this thing. It does normal blender stuff (smoothies, milkshakes, etc.) but also can make soups (think pureed types), jam, peanut butter (and other nut butters), alternative milks, sauces, and can even ground wheat to make flour. Oh, and it also has a heated clean setting, so it’ll clean itself! 😀
Racing around the house with Pua and Hei Hei.
Being a butterfly at the zoo.
Checking out the rhinos (well, Abigail was checking out her popcorn, haha).
One of those then-and-now pictures that Google photos does. Tiny Joseph vs. Current Joseph.
The rhino statue at the zoo. This thing is huge!
Checking out the elephants. Abigail was apparently really thirsty after finishing off her popcorn. 😉
Another then-and-now photo. An even Tinier Joseph vs. Current Joseph.
We ran into some friends while cooling off in the hippo enclosure. One of them had a professional camera, and Abigail asked him to take her picture. This was the result. 😊
Someone decided to pull a funny face for our zoo train selfie.
I barely managed to get a smile from her before the tongue came back out (what looks like her bottom lip is actually the tip of her tongue).
She woke up at 5:00 this morning, for some reason. I could hear her playing with her stuffed animals, so I turned the monitor off, haha. I turned it back on a couple hours later and it was all quiet. I tried to let her sleep as long as possible, but I walked into her room at about 9:30 to find this and decided I might need to wake her, even though she looked so peaceful.
Reading to Pua and Hei Hei under the table.
Abigail decided Joseph needed to be buried under stuffed animals.
He’s a pretty patient big brother. 🥰